CNN reports this morning in COP21 climate change summit: 'Never have the stakes been so high', but Minnesota state representative Glenn Gruenhagen, R-Glencoe, is having nothing to do with it. Not only did the Sibley County Republican tweet a February climate-denying column from the London Telegraph, he share the piece with House colleagues and their staff, as well as his email list.

In the email, Gruenhagen said:

More proof,that global warming temps have been manipulated and exaggerated primarily for keeping the billions of tax subsidies flowing to the climate scientist. Now the UN in Paris is asking for a $100 billion in tax subsidies for the fraudulent global warming scam.

I do believe there are pollution problems in the world but the global warming scam is more about money then fixing pollution problems.

Two weeks ago, under the headline “How we are being tricked by flawed data on global warming”, I wrote about Paul Homewood, who, on his Notalotofpeopleknowthat blog, had checked the published temperature graphs for three weather stations in Paraguay against the temperatures that had originally been recorded. In each instance, the actual trend of 60 years of data had been dramatically reversed, so that a cooling trend was changed to one that showed a marked warming. . . .

Following my last article, Homewood checked a swathe of other South American weather stations around the original three. In each case he found the same suspicious one-way “adjustments”. First these were made by the US government’s Global Historical Climate Network (GHCN). They were then amplified by two of the main official surface records, the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (Giss) and the National Climate Data Center (NCDC), which use the warming trends to estimate temperatures across the vast regions of the Earth where no measurements are taken. Yet these are the very records on which scientists and politicians rely for their belief in “global warming”. . . .

The “report” to which Palmer referred was actually a series of blog posts, written by climate change denier Paul Homewood, which were then highly publicized in twostories by Christopher Booker in the Daily Telegraph in London. Both writers focused on the adjustments made to temperature readings at certain monitoring stations around the world, and claimed that those adjustments throw the entire science of global warming into question. This is not at all the case, and those adjustments are a normal and important part of climate science.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. agency responsible for monitoring national and global temperature trends, has addressed these types of adjustments several times before. NOAA addresses the subject in a Q&A on its website:

Q: What are some of the temperature discrepancies you found in the climate record and how have you compensated for them?

Over time, the thousands of weather stations around the world have undergone changes that often result in sudden or unrealistic discrepancies in observed temperatures requiring a correction. For the U.S.-based stations, we have access to detailed station history that helps us identify and correct discrepancies. Some of these differences have simple corrections.

NOAA maintains about 1,500 monitoring stations, and accumulates data from more than a thousand other stations in countries around the world (many national and international organizations share this type of data freely). There are actually fewer monitoring stations today than there used to be; modern stations have better technology and are accessible in real time, unlike some older outposts no longer in use. The raw, unadjusted data from these stations is available from many sources, including the international collaboration known as the Global Historical Climatology Network and others.

More proof,that global warming temps have been manipulated and exaggerated primarily for keeping the billions of tax subsidies flowing to the climate scientist. Now the UN in Paris is asking for a $100 billion in tax subsidies for the fraudulent global warming scam.

I do believe there are pollution problems in the world but the global warming scam is more about money then fixing pollution problems.

Nov 29, 2015

Documents sent to Bluestem Prairie shed new light on the strategies used by a corporation and its allies as they attempt to squash foes and win friends in a bid to bill a high-speed rail line between Rochester and the southern suburbs of the Twin Cities.

We post the two documents below, which were obtained via a data practices request made by the third-party, which wished to remain anonymous.

The first document is a fascinating set of emails and memos offering a glimpse of how a private interest works with county-level officials to frame talking points about their project while cutting off citizen opposition and legislative concerns.

The second is a bid to "transition," or transfer work done for the public "Ziprail" project over to the private company, an interesting sort of wealth transfer.

Lots of gems in both. For example, one of the private corporation's chief "influencers" didn't register to lobby for the association until months after much of the persuasion took place. We're sure there's some logical loophole that allowed NAHSR's strategic communications director contact legislators and local officials prior to registering with the public disclosure board.

County consultant: CCARL, or one is the loneliest number

Perhaps more interesting? An email from the Olmsted County Regional Railroad consulting engineer to county board members that severely understates the number of CCARL members at two meetings on June 25, then using the inaccurate number to dismiss the grassroots group to the county commissioners.

On Thursday, June 25 we held meetings in Rosemount at DCTC for both the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and Community Advisory Committee (CAC). This was meeting No. 7 for the TAC, and the first meeting for the CAC.

Membership lists for each are attached. We recently added several cities to the TAC (including Byron, Pine Island, Wanamingo, Cannon Falls and Zumbrota) and many attended. ROCOG attended via conference call.

Both meetings went extremely well from our perspective. Both were well attended and provided for excellent dialogue between the committee members and the project team, clearing up numerous misperceptions, rumors,and disinformation. . . .

A citizen’s group opposed to the project, Citizens Concerned About Rail Line (CCARL) are members of the TAC and advertised both meetings, asking that all their members attend to support their cause. Only one showed up. In fact,other than a MnDOT communications person and two from CARB, no one else attended. . . .

Here's a screenshot of the attendee listed in the minutes for the TAC (online here):

Two CCARL members (Heather Arndt and Nora Felton) who are part of the TAC, attended, as did Don Evanson, a CCARL member and property rights activist from Winona.

The minutes (online here) for the CAC reveal even more CCARL members in the room:

Four members of CCARL--including two who serve on the TAC--were in the room. Former state representative Bill Kuisle was a substitute for Norma Monroe. Monroe is a CCARL's member who recently spoke to business people in Kenyon about the project:

If there's one thing Bluestem thinks technical staff like engineers should be able to do, it's count. Three CCARL members attended one afternoon meeting, while four (and a substitute for another) were at the evening meeting. Those five people do not equal "one."

The June 25 meetings were held in Rosemount, rather than in the Rochester area.

According to the "transition" document embedded below, the NAHSR group asked to keep Michael on as the project moved from being the public Ziprail project to the private bullet train. Perhaps they approve of his dismissal of citizens via addition errors.

Fundraising and letters of transition

The "document dump" also shows in a June 5 document that NAHSR's CEO Joseph Sperber was irritated at the Dayton administration's pace at signing off on "current legislation," and releasing a letter, as he as in China looking for investors:

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and the North American High Speed Rail Group (NAHSR) are drafting a letter on behalf of Transportation Commissioner Zelle, which will be released once the Governor signs off on current legislation. Joe Sperber of NAHSR has been meeting with investors in China this past week, and was not happy that the letter had not been released in advance. We are not certain of the effect, if any, this may have on the outcomes of the meetings. . . .

. . .The most recent draft of a letter discussing MnDOT's possible agreement with the rail group states that the company requested the exclusive rights as it "evaluates the feasibility of its project" and states that MnDOT "will refrain from developing a lease of this corridor for passenger rail with other parties." . . .

MnDOT is in the midst of a Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement of the high-speed rail corridor, known as the Zip Rail project. Meadley has said that while the proposed elevated rail line would be along the same corridor as the proposed Zip Rail line, the project would be very different. If the project moves ahead, the group plans to change the name of the rail line.

MnDOT and the rail group are also working on a Memorandum of Understanding that would designate the rail group as the sole entity authorized to study, design, build and operate the proposed rail line.

MnDOT spokesman Kevin Gutknecht said neither the letter nor the memo have been signed and both are being evaluated by the department. . . .

Gov. Mark Dayton has not met with representatives of the North American High Speed Rail Group, according to governor's office spokeswoman Cambray Crozier.

Olmsted County Commissioner Ken Brown said he has not seen the letter or memo but he was told the rail group was working with MnDOT and the governor's office. . . .

We'll unpack more in the coming days, but two things immediately jumped out at us.

The first was this statement on page 3 for Stage I: Proof of Concept Assessment: Rail and Real Estate:

Obtained acceptance and approval by Federal, State, County and Municipal governments.

The suspicions of citizens living in "fly over" area where no stops have been planned seem confirmed by this sort of assertion. We have not found "approval" of the project--or the Ziprail before it--by Goodhue County. Quite the contrary.

Moreover, while the spokester for the private bullet train and other supporters frequently note publicly that their project is much different from the Ziprail, the business plan asserts that earlier studies for the Ziprail are being used to support their project. We're not sure they can have it both ways.

One final thing: the assertion that the project is "unique" because it will bring Chinese rail technology to the United States for the first time is utterly laughable considering the partnership that XpressWest has forged with Chinese rail company, along with XpressWest's designation as franchisee by the Nevada High Speed Rail Authority (see details in the pdf embedded here).

Image: The snowpiercer, which we believe to be more real than this idea.

We're conducting our November fundraising drive. If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie's original reporting and analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:

The metro-based Republican front group is sending an image of our school kids that's definitely at odds with the faces of younger Greater Minnesotans. Those kids weren't on a school bus in Minnesota. They were on the Alamy Stock Photo website; other stock images from the same source can be viewed here.

The postcards praise the work of freshman Republican state representatives for voting for over $500 million in increased funding. What the postcards don't tell voters in those district?

Those kids weren't on a school bus in Minnesota; we're not even sure the bus was in the United States. They were on the Alamy Stock Photo website; other stock images from the same source can be viewed here. D. Hurst's farming stock photos are shot in Oregon, but the abundance of images from the United Kingdom in the D. Hurst portfolio at Alamy suggests that Hurst is this Wigan-based freelance photographer. The photo was taken on June 30, 2008.

Here's an example of the use of the stock photo in Minnesota House District 17B:

And here are the demographic profiles for the two elementary schools in Willmar, the regional hub in Baker's district:

Did everyone notice that all of the kids pictured on the bus postcard are cute white kids?

While that's an alias, we recognized the email address as that of a reader from rural Southern Minnesota who is indeed a grandfather with two grandchildren of color.

Upon reflecting on Grandpa's question, we thought that the graphic design choices made by whomever the Republican-front-group Minnesota Jobs Coalition hired to put its junk mail together probably wasn't from around here.

But rather than basing our post on casual observations drawn from shopping in Willmar, we checked the Minnesota Report Card database online. It's a project of the Minnesota Department of Education that makes all sorts of interesting data available to parents, employers and other interested citizens.

Here's what the demographics for the two public elementary schools in Willmar's public school's look like:

Jeepers, it appears that non-Latino white children are a minority of those kids attending Roosevelt and Kennedy Elementary in Representative Dave Baker's district.

What about the kids in Jeff Backer's district? On the Minnesota Jobs Coalition postcard, they look exactly like the stock photo kids on the Minnesota Jobs Coalition junk mail:

Those child pale in comparison with the demographics in two districts in Backer's tuff--Morris and Backer's home town of Browns Valley:

Morris school kids are about 15 percent children of color, while Traverse County's proximity to the Sisseton Dakota reservation has produced the situation where Sisseton children attend elementary school in Browns Valley, and Browns Valley teens attend high school in South Dakota, according to the Browns Valley Public School District's website.

The real kids on the real buses? Nothing like the junk mail. We do wish that metro conservatives knew what communities are like out on the prairie.

Finally, those stock-photo kids on the school bus make an appearance for Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg, who was also investing on our schools:

With only a ten-percent enrollment of children of color (8 percent Latino and 2 percent Black), that photo might be appropriate for Benson, but we're pretty sure Milan's thriving Micronesian community is on the bus to Appleton, where fifteen percent of the elementary children enjoy Hispanic heritage.

We've learned of some pushback--and a snowstorm of more cards in MN17B, the Willmar side of the senate district.

"Don't fall for this fraud"

A friend sent us a photo of a letter from Appleton attorney Brian Wojtalewicz, Please don't fall for this fraud. The small town paper has no website, so here's a transcription:

You recently may have received some flyers in the mail from the MN Jobs Coalition thanking Tim Miller for increasing education funding by $500 million dollars [BSP: image above]. These flyers are deceptive and dishonest.

In the 2015 legislative session, Tim Miller and his House Republican colleagues did not fight for $500 million in increased education funding. The Republican majority’s education finance bill that Tim Miller voted for did not even keep pace with inflation. Had Tim Miller had his way, it would have led to teacher layoffs and would have short-changed our schools and particularly our pre-schools.

At the end of the legislative session, Governor Dayton vetoed the education finance bill. He sent it back to the legislature stating that his approval required a real investment in our schools. Due to Tim Miller’s actions, we were forced to pay for a costly special legislative session; which brought us about a week away from a government shutdown. Governor Dayton fought for and won this increased funding in the special session education finance bill despite Tim Miller; not because of Tim Miller, as the MN Jobs Coalition would hope to have you believe.

So who is the MN Jobs Coalition? And why are they out to deceive you the voter? The MN Jobs Coalition is the negative attack ally of the (Minnesota) House Republican Campaign Committee (HRCC) used to funnel special interest and corporate money into deceptive and misleading attack ads. Remember all those awful mailers that flooded your mailbox last fall - you can thank the MN Jobs Coalition for that. In 2014, Ben Golnik did the MN Jobs Coalition's dirty work and he was rewarded by being named the executive director of the GOP House Caucus at the MN Capitol after the election. Your tax dollars now pay him a salary of $125,000 per year plus generous benefits.

Who funded the MN Jobs Coalition's work? According to 2014 public campaign reports, the Jobs Coalition's largest contributors funneled money from big tobacco (Reynolds American and Altria), big oil (Exxon Mobile), and big insurance companies as well as the Koch Brothers and Las Vegas casino operators into Minnesota legislative campaigns like Tim Miller's. Is it any wonder when the MN Jobs Coalition is heavily funded by out-of-state corporations and big businesses looking for special favors that Tim Miller voted in their interests rather than looking out for our interests and those of our kids?

Of course, carrying the water for big corporate special interests is not popular - and so you get misleading mailings like the ones you just received. And undoubtedly, you'll be seeing more and more of those mailings as huge flows of non-Minnesota special interest money floods into our state over the next year. Please don’t fall for this fraud.

Here's the photo we were sent of the letter in the Banner:

Blizzard of Baker BS buries Willmar mailboxes

But the fraudulent flacking isn't confined to the A side of District 17. Indeed, multiple sizes of the education and transportation postcards are hitting mailboxes in Willmar, which freshman representative Dave Baker won by a margin of 214 votes in 2014.

At least five mailings--all with the same text about education and transportation--have been sent to the swing district, so it's possible by the time of next November's election, the Minnesota Jobs Coalition may have sent more pieces of junk mail to each voter than Baker's margin of victory.

Here are three of them:

Lovely. As Wojtalewicz wrote: " Remember all those awful mailers that flooded your mailbox last fall - you can thank the MN Jobs Coalition for that."

"DFL leaders in the House Tuesday criticized the plan as a shortsighted “house of cards.” House Minority Leader Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, and a parade of DFLers complained that it siphons off general fund dollars that would otherwise be used for education and health care."

So there you have it: the Minnesota Jobs Coalition is praising Miller for securing education funding Governor Dayton had to pry out of the legislature, while lauding Baker for voting for a failed partisan effort that defied compromise.

We can't make this up--but can take some joy that this is what MJC is investing its money "on."

Since the mail pieces don't say, "vote for" the legislators, no disclosure of the funding is required. Former Representative Ryan Winkler's legislation would have changed that situation. When the mail begins to be sent by the MN Jobs Coalition Legislative Fund as independent expenditures, the PAC will have to file campaign finance reports with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board.

Photos from top to bottom: Tim Miller; the pro-Miller education mailer; the letter in the Kerkhoven Banner; three of the mail pieces sent to Willmar.

We're conducting our November fundraising drive. If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie's original reporting and analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:

A developer seeking billions for a proposed high-speed rail line between Rochester and the Twin Cities has federal approval to launch Liberty Minnesota Regional Center, an EB-5 immigrant investment center.

The Minnesota-based group plans to raise much of the estimated $4.2 billion — in private capital from foreign individuals and governments, including China — to finance the rail project. The EB-5 program provides permanent green cards to foreign investors who invest $500,000 to $1 million in businesses or economic development projects that create or preserve at least 10 jobs for U.S. workers.

The Immigrant Investor Pilot Program was created by Section 610 of Public Law 102-395 (Oct. 6, 1992), and has been extended. EB-5 requirements for an investor under the Pilot Program are essentially the same as in the standard EB-5 investor program, except the Pilot Program provides for investments that are affiliated with an economic unit known as a “Regional Center.”

Investments made through regional centers can take advantage of a more expansive concept of job creation including both “indirect” and “direct” jobs. A Regional Center is defined as any economic entity, public or private, which is involved with the promotion of economic growth, improved regional productivity, job creation and increased domestic capital investment.

The organizers of a regional center seeking the “Regional Center” designation from USCIS can find more detailed information on the process and requirements at the USCIS website. The following Regional Centers have been approved or have approval pending by the USCIS to facilitate investment in Minnesota (Disclaimer: The listing of these organizations does not imply endorsement):

When we click on the link, we had the same experience as the source. Here's a screenshot of what she sent us:

What does this mean? We're uncertain. Domain Tools yielded this information (in part) for the URL:

When we google Empyrean West, we find a website for another EB-5 service, Empyrean West. According to its website's About Us page:

We established Empyrean West to answer the demand for commercial project financing in the US. Empyrean West is working with multiple EB-5 projects, establishing our first tri-state Liberty West Regional Center encompassing Southern California, Arizona, and Southern Nevada. We have also launched other Regional Centers across the U.S., details of these centers can be found at (www.LibertyRegionalCenters.com).

In the page below, we embed a pdf of the presentation XpressWest made to the Nevada High-Speed Rail Authority on the day it was awarded the franchise, and the XpressWest application for the project is found here on the nvhsra.com website.

In a brief phone interview, rail authority contact person David Clyde said that the XpressWest presentations did not include mention of the North American High Speed Rail Group, but said that questions of this nature are best addressed to XpressWest or its parent company, the Marnell Companies.

In other news, our data practices request to the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MNDOT) for the business plan for the metro-to-Rochester line has been approved and we eagerly await the arrival of the disk from MNDOT.

The company purports to be able to build a private HSR line between Rochester and the Twin Cities without public funds, but Citizens Concerned About Rail Lane (CCARL), groups like the Minnesota Farmers Union and local governments in between the stops have reservations about the project.

For news about a recent CCARLS meeting, check out the Cannon Falls Beacon article, CCARL meeting draws big crowd. The next CCARLS meeting will be at 6 p.m. on Thursday, December 3 at the Cannon Falls High School auditorium.

The Star Tribune's retread reminded us that we needed to look at the RSLC's monthly 8872 filings with the IRS, which have been the source of the 2014 data that gets churned through various transparency websites. After all, the MN Job Coalition is mailing cheery postcards to swing districts, as we reported in they're not from the group's legislative fund PAC,

Alas, no. The groups has switched to twice-yearly reports, so we only have the income and expenses through June 30. Here's the filing, with the only spending in Minnesota being $6671.00 paid in May to FLS Connect (St. Paul) for direct marketing (page 79):

Beginning in 2006, the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC), a political organization focused on helping the GOP win down-ballot state-level campaigns, held itself to a higher standard when it came to disclosing its finances. Though the group is only required to publicly report its donors and expenses to the Internal Revenue Service quarterly (or semiannually, depending on the year), the RSLC elected to file its disclosure forms on a monthly basis.

Is the RSLC a 527 organization? Yes. The RSLC is registered and files reports with the Internal Revenue Service under 26 U.S.C. 527. Because transparency is important to the RSLC we have voluntarily decided to file reports of all contributions and expenditures on a monthly basis. The RSLC is also registered and reports in many states across the country pursuant to each states specific campaign finance laws.

Well, at least the group used to say that. The above quote is taken from an archived version of the RSLC’s website from June 2014. The current website, which is now hosted on the .gop domain, no longer mentions transparency and doesn’t commit the RSLC to making monthly disclosures.

The most likely reason for this is that the RSLC has actually stopped filing its disclosure reports, known as Form 8872s, with the IRS on a monthly basis. As of today, the last time the RSLC filed an 8872 was in February 2015, and that report covered the end of 2014. The RSLC does not appear to have announced any kind of change to its transparency principles.

At this point in 2013, the last non-election year in which the RSLC filed reports monthly, the organization had already disclosed raising more than $7 million. That early haul included six figure contributions from Devon Energy, Exxon Mobil, Facebook, Wellpoint, Wal-Mart, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The RSLC had also disclosed receiving $54,500 from Koch Industries. On the spending side, the organization had disclosed four contributions, including $15,000 to Crossroads Generation, a youth-focused super PAC with ties to Karl Rove’s American Crossroads. The RSLC’s disclosure revealed the contribution two months before Crossroads Generation made it public in a report with the Federal Election Commission.

Our friends at BNSF have given $50,000 so far (though little has been transferred to Minnesota pockets), and we invite readers to search the document and post their favorite corporate donor in our comment section.

Nov 22, 2015

There is much ado at the State Capitol about the newly construction $90 million Senate Office Building, but Sen. Scott Newman of Hutchinson says he’s mostly concerned about logistics. . . .

Newman also objects to a large increase in parking fees, from his current $50 per month amount to $162 per month at the new office buildings. He said he doesn’t know if he can keep his current parking spot, and then walk over to the new building.

“I’ll be darned if I (have to pay) $162 a month to park my car at the Senate Office Building,” he said, noting he makes $31,000 a year as a legislator.

A Legislator's salary is $31,140 per year (see the House Research Department publication State Elected Officials Compensation). They are also allowed to collect a per diem for living and travel expenses seven days a week during the regular legislative session.

Housing: Greater Minnesota members (those residing more than 50 miles one way from the Capitol) receive a housing allowan ce to a maximum of $1,200 per month for rent and related expenses both during session and the interim. Leases must be filed in Fiscal Servic es to receive this allowance.

Hutchinson is beyond the minimum distance from the state capitol, but it's possible that Senator Newman makes the commute every day during the session--or that the housing allowance, like the per diem, has changed since 2010. Newman can also collect mileage. (These payments became an issue for Torrey Westrom during his 2014 congressional bid; after the NRCC attacked Collin Peterson for similar expenses for congressional business, the DFL slashed back by revealing payments the Elbow Lake lawmaker).

Finally, there's another source of reimbursement for Minnesota lawmakers: they are able to pay for certain costs of serving in office from their campaign committees. In 2013, Newman reimbursed himself $3,691.75 for mileage and other expenses (since he ran for attorney general in 2014, there's little activity in his senate campaign committee report for that year).

Newman's crying poor mouth about parking rates seems a bit of drama when his total compensation package is added up. According to Doug Belden's report last year in the Pioneer Press, State Sen. Scott Newman to run for attorney general, Newman, now in his late 60s, "is listed in state records as retired and not authorized to practice law."

Photo: The new state senate legislative office building.

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At Houston County board meetings, the public comment portion will now be three minutes long… at the end of the meeting… once per month.

After discussion, the Houston County commissioners voted to hold public comment period at the end of the meeting of their first meeting of the month and extend to three minutes to allow speakers more time to make their point.

However, the public were none too happy of the decision. . . .

An increasingly frustrated public, while not surprised by the move, then spent much of their “public comment, comments,” this being the last such opportunity to speak until the beginning of December, to blast the commissioners for once again attempting to silence the masses.

You may recall at one point the county board stopped holding a public comment period all together.

After public outrage over that choice, the county board brought the pubic comment period back, this time reading a prepared statement by their attorney prior to each public comment period.

“My concern is you don’t know when a meeting is going to end,” commissioner Dana Kjome said, a point Stanage would later reiterate. “You know the meetings are going to start at 9 a.m., you can plan a little better and people might not want to sit here for an entire meeting just to address the board.”

The commissioners voted to move the public comment period much to the dismay of its public.

Tension over the shooting of Jamar Clark by a Minneapolis police officer spilled over into a meeting of the 13-member city council Friday, spurred by a brief protest by longtime anti-police-brutality activists. . . .

Council members and city staff seemed prepared for the protest, however. Council President Barbara Johnson immediately told Gross there was no public testimony taken at regular meetings, read the rule and asked security guards, who were there in greater numbers than usual, to remove Gross. Two other protesters took to the podium in sequence and were also removed.

Friday’s protest at the meeting pointed out what some view as a gap in council rules. Unlike some other local governments, Minneapolis’ council does not provide any opportunity for residents to speak on general topics. Testimony is taken at committee meetings, but only on the matters before that committee. Its rules can be suspended to allow the public to address the council — something it did Wednesday for testimony on the city budget — but that procedure is rarely followed.

Both the Minneapolis Board of Education and the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board have public forums during its regular meetings that allow residents to speak on any topic. Gordon was asked by a reporter after Friday’s meeting why residents shouldn’t have expected the council to discuss the killing of Clark. Gordon said that the every-other-week regular meeting is mostly to approve the work of the committees. But he said he would support a change to council rules to provide for a public forum. . . .

At the Nov. 10 meeting Judy Storlie presented a proposal to further limit public input at County Commissioner meetings. Instead of the current weekly comment period she proposed a once per month comment period. Instead of having it at the beginning of the meeting she proposed moving it to the end of the meeting. So now we will not know what time it will occur because meetings vary from ½ hour to 2 and ½ hours. The County Board approved this measure which further limits public input and makes it harder for citizens to have their voice heard.

In a truly open and transparent government the elected officials would want to have public input. So what are some of the Commissioners afraid of? Is it that some of the comments are too close to the truth? Are they getting some feedback they don’t want to hear? Is it a democracy when elected officials don’t want to hear from the public or are afraid of the accountability that comes from open dialogue? Would citizens be less frustrated if they felt they were being heard?

Is this the democratic government we aspire toward?

Perhaps the Houston County Board would rather have mass protests and occupations--as are happening in Minneapolis--than members of the public speaking at meetings.

Citizens in Houston County have been demanding that the local government adopt new ordinances dealing with the regulation of frac sand mining. Concerns about mining are not remotely as dire as the fate of the young black man black whose fate gave rise to the 4th Precinct Shut Down protests, but both situations illustrate that citizens will find a way to raise their voices, however little their government officials might want to hear them--or how uncomfortable the questions raised might be.

Image: A still from the Simpsons

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Nov 21, 2015

Bluestem is behind the curve on this story: although there's no active Republican Party challenger opposing Collin Peterson, Dawson native and current Montevideo resident Kevin Winge has been exploring a bid for Minnesota's sprawling Seventh Congressional District as an Independence Party candidate.

Kevin “Bird” Winge is forming an exploratory committee to consider a run for Rep. Collin Peterson’s seat in Minnesota’s 7th Congressional District in 2016.

Winge is a former leader of nonprofit corporations that provide meals to seniors and the critically ill, and this would be his first campaign.

Winge said he has decided to explore a run for office because of the polarization of the political system.

“Too many politicians are more concerned about special interest groups and reelections than they are about the future of our country,” he said in a press release. “The vitriolic language, the use of social issues to divide us, and the inability to balance budgets has to stop. Civility and compromise must return to government. Our energies must be concentrated on creating the nation we need to be a generation from now.”

Winge has spent time touring the district this fall, and expects to make a decision by the end of the year. . . .

Winge grew up in a farm outside Dawson and is a Montevideo resident. He has a bachelors in political science from the University of Minnesota and has a masters degree in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.

In 2011, our executive director Kevin Winge resigned from his post to head up a similar organization in San Francisco, California. While we were happy for him, we were also sad to say goodbye to a dynamic leader and friend. For 12 years, Kevin inspired, challenged, encouraged and, yes, hugged us. To know Kevin was to be inspired by Open Arms — and to get involved. When he joined us, Open Arms cooked and delivered meals for 100 people living with HIV/AIDS on a $300,000 budget. Today, our budget exceeds $3 million: We have our own garden, an international program, and each week we serve 750 people living with HIV/AIDS, MS, ALS, cancer and 60 other diseases here in Minnesota.

That's an impressive accomplishment, and it illustrates Winge's optimistic and civil nature. Another good source for understanding the potential candidate is his archived "Your Voices" blog at the Star Tribune, which closes with his late August 2013 marriage by then-Mayor R.T. Rybak (photo above). Winge is a sane, moderate and generous voice.

David Holman of Morris, the Independence Party of Minnesota’s Chair of the Seventh Congressional District, supports Winge’s potential candidacy. “Kevin has what it takes to be a great Representative. He has a proven record of building coalitions, balancing budgets, and making bold decisions. He is passionate about ending the partisan bickering and improving economic and educational opportunities for all Americans.”

Can an Independence Party candidate make a dent in Peterson's popularity? Statewide IP candidates didn't fare well in the district in 2014. Adam Steele was on the congressional ballot in 2012 with Peterson and Republican Lee Byberg, garnering 4.67 percent of the vote.

As the whole world knows by now, North Minneapolis community members organized by Black Lives Matters are occupying Plymouth Avenue in front of the Minneapolis Police Department's Fourth Precinct following the shooting of Jamal Clark by a police officer.

Now a prominent Republican state lawmaker and former lawman has shared his opinion of the dispute with his Democratic colleagues and their staff, according to an emailed document a source forwarded to Bluestem.

Cornish also posted the text on his Facebook page on Saturday morning, asking friends to share on their own pages. As of this time, 398 people had shared the post. Here's a pdf of the document he emailed Democratic state lawmakers and staff:

We'll give Cornish credit for one thing: he admits he'd feel regret at the death. That's more than union head Robert Kroll would concede last night on TPT Almanac. Kroll also claimed that "many" of those protesting are "outside" of the community and on the payroll of the SEIU. [Update: Kroll has come to public attention for extreme behavior and outlandish statements since 1995, according to this 2007 report in City Pages].

Jim Flaherty Candidate for Minnesota House of Representatives District 20B

I am announcing a run for the Minnesota House of Representatives.

A little about me, I’m married to Renee Flaherty and we have 4 daughters and 5 grandchildren. Most live within a 2 hour drive with 1 in Texas along with her husband and their son.

Renee and I live South of Northfield and have for many years. We have an older 3 bedroom 1 bathroom house on around 8 acers.

I have lived in the Northfield area since 1970 (most of my life) and went to Northfield public schools. I have a passion for hunting and fishing. I have been blessed in that I have had the opportunity to hunt and fish in many parts of the world. I enjoy learning and observing the customs in other countries and respect their ways of doing things. It’s only right that I respect other county’s way of doing things and I believe that when someone comes to the United States our customs should be respected.

I started working at Fran’s Red Owl in Northfield the day I turned 16 and have been employed since. I spent 17 years at Carleton College in the facility’s department. I was injured in a freak accident and recovery took a little over a year. From there I went to work for ABM/CBM (cleaning and maintenance contractor) in downtown Minneapolis as the day supervisor at the City Center/Multifoods business complex.

At this time I work for Cabela’s in Owatonna MN and have since before the store opened. Presently I work in the Gun Library as the Internet Content Provider. On a daily bases I buy, sell and trade new and used firearms along with listing firearm on the internet. I negotiate deals every day and know when it is time to walk away from deal. Contrary to what you may have read or been told, for each and every firearm sold the buyer must pass a back ground check or be a federally licensed firearms dealer (FFL holder), there are NO exceptions to the law. Shall not be infringed is easy to understand.

First and foremost I am a fiscal conservative. Democrat’s talks about a State Surplus of 2,000,000,000.00 like its money that needs to be spent. While Democrats are looking for creative ways to spend that money for the greater good AKA buying votes I take a much more conservative approach of what to do with the extra we may have. In reality the State of Minnesota has a short term surplus of $1,825,370,000.00. What the democrats fails to mention is that the State of Minnesota already has $52,251,525,800.00 yes that is $52 BILLION in debt. That is equivalent to $9,550.00 for every citizen of the state.

It doesn’t matter if you are 1 or 100 that debt vulture is sitting on your shoulder bearing down on you. We owe this money and it’s not going away no matter how much we want it to unless we pony up the cash. Democrats can continue to expand our debt and spend more or we can buckle down and pay this debt off. It won’t be easy and we may all need to do without some extras but it can be done.

I am 100% Conservative, followed by 70% Republican, 20% Libertarian and 10% Constitutionalist and very fiscally conservative.

We suspect he'll be in agony during the coming bonding session. His personal Facebook page is mostly cartoons and political memes.

Kern detects a double standard on the part of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, whom he suspects encourage Muslims. Kern writes:

An anti-Christian Freedom From Religious Foundation (FFRF) is demanding that the Bible – placed by a Christian group – be banned from university hotel rooms. It’s already had them banned from universities in Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa.

Our country was founded on the freedom of religion, not the freedom from religion. So I hear people say, “We have separation of church and state.”

Yes, the church was to be protected from the state dictating what we believe — like marriage and the value of a baby unborn.

I wonder if FFRF is as concerned with the installation of “foot washing stations” and “prayer rooms for facing Mecca” that are being installed in universities (with taxpayer dollars) to accommodate Muslim prayer times.

Can you say double standards?

Or you could talk with businesses around Willmar and Long Prairie that are being forced to “accommodate” break times and rooms for the same purposes. These are signs of things to come. . . .

Meanwhile, back in Madison, Wisconsin, the November 14 episode of the FFRF's Freethought Radio podcast is Spotlight on Ex-Muslims:

After reporting an early FFRF holiday victory stopping a nativity scene from being placed in a Minnesota park, we discuss the recent study showing that nonreligious children are more altruistic and less punitive than religious children. We hear the trailer for the new movie Spotlight about the Boston Globe’s powerful investigation of the coverup of pedophile Catholic priests. Then we talk with Sarah Haider, one of the co-founders of Ex-Muslims of North America, who tells us what it is like to leave Islam and become an atheist.

And there's the October 17 episode:

FFRF unveils its northern “Atheists in Foxholes” monument and the first-ever “Atheist Marquee” at the national office in Madison, Wisconsin. We hear the welcoming remarks of Madison Mayor Paul Soglin at FFRF's annual “Non-Prayer Breakfast” during our 38th annual convention. Then we listen to atheist Bangladeshi author and poet Taslima Nasrin talk about the fatwah and death threats she has been facing for decades because of her outspoken criticism of Islam.

And back in May:

In the News: Black atheists of Chicago, “Tea with Mr. Darwin,” Nonbelief-Relief, and National Day of Prayer protested with Dan’s song, “Get Off Your Knees and Get To Work.” We interview author Andrew Solomon (“Far From The Tree”), president of the PEN American Center, who this week awarded satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo its “Free Expression Courage Award."

If Kern fears the intrusion of Islam in the public sphere, perhaps he could enlist the freethinkers' help, rather than imagine a pro-Islam bias on their part, but what fun would that be?

Kern seems to have moved on from hating on the gay to Islamophobia, but if he's truly into thwarting the creeping sharia he perceives rising about him, the Freedom from Religion Foundation might actually his new BFF.

Photo: County Wing County Republican Basic Party Operating Unit chair Doug Kern, oppressed by everyone from atheists to gay married couples to Muslims.

We're conducting our November fundraising drive. If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie's original reporting and analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:

Nov 19, 2015

Courtesy of our friends at The Uptake, we'll be streaming the first full-length debate of Republican candidates running for the open seat in Minnesota's Second Congressional District.

The Uptake notes:

A reminder that tonight at 7 PM, your readers can get their first extended look at the five Republican candidates vying for Minnesota's open congressional seat. All five will be debating in a 90 minute GOP sponsored debate at the Gateway Christian Church in Inver Grove Heights and The UpTake is providing a free embeddable live video stream of the event to all media. Scheduled to debate are David Gerson, John Howe, Jason Lewis, Pam Myhra and David Benson-Stabler.

Hosted by the Senate District 52 GOP, the debate features five candidates: David Gerson, John Howe, Jason Lewis, Pam Myhra and David Benson-Stabler. Via the sponsor, here are the candidates' websites or twitter account:

Congressmen Tim Walz (MN01), Collin Peterson (MN07) and Rick Nolan (MN08) have joined Minnesota's Republican representatives in voting for the American Safe Act of 2015. Fourth District Congresswoman Betty McCollum voted against the bill, while Fifth District Congressman Keith Ellison did not vote.

The House of Representatives has easily passed a GOP-authored bill to restrict the admission of Iraqi and Syrian refugees to America by requiring extra security procedures.

The bill — called the American Security Against Foreign Enemies Act of 2015, or the American SAFE Act of 2015 — would require the secretary of Homeland Security, the head of the FBI and the director of national intelligence to sign off on every individual refugee from Iraq and Syria, affirming he or she is not a threat.

The FBI director would also need to confirm that a background investigation, separate from the Homeland Security screening, had been conducted on each refugee.

Lawmakers say it is the first of many bills aimed at addressing security concerns in the wake of the Paris attacks, reports NPR's Muthoni Muturi.

Supporters of the bill say it would require a "pause" in admitting Syrian and Iraqi refugees, as current applications would be halted while a new vetting process was established. Some conservative critics object that it doesn't ban such refugees outright. . . .

But despite McCaul’s and the committee’s tough-sounding rhetoric, the bill—several congressional aides and the actual text of the legislation confirm—simply requires one new step for Syrian and Iraqi refugee admittance and resettlement: That the Director of National Intelligence, the director of the FBI and the Secretary of Homeland Security approve any such refugees beforehand. Each of those people work for President Obama at the pleasure of the president.

“That’s like asking Janet Napolitano to verify the border is secure,” one GOP aide told Breitbart News. “Of course they are going to approve them without hesitation.” . . .

But another congressional GOP aide from an office highly skeptical of the package told Breitbart News if anyone expects three top officials who serve at the pleasure of the president to rebuff Obama’s wishes they’re kidding themselves.

National Public Radio reports that the bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate and President Obama has promised a veto should it reach his desk:

It's unclear whether the Senate will take up the legislation, says NPR's Arnie Seipel. If the bill does pass through Congress, President Obama has pledged to veto it. But in the House of Representatives, Republicans would only need one more vote to make the bill veto-proof.

The administration says the bill would introduce "unnecessary and impractical requirements that would unacceptably hamper our efforts to assist some of the most vulnerable people in the world."

It would also undermine allies and partners in the Middle East and Europe, the administration says.

Obama argues that the existing vetting process — which includes fingerprinting, examination of personal history and interviews — is sufficient, and the certification requirement the Republicans are calling for would "provide no meaningful additional security."

The Obama administration has recently begun disclosing details about how Syrian refugees are currently screened. As we reported Tuesday, the process includes multiple agencies and lasts up to two years. . . .

The U.S. has taken in about 2,500 Syrian refugees since 2011, according to the AP, and the Obama administration has announced a plan to accept 10,000 more in the coming year. The White House says half of the refugees admitted to the U.S. are children, and about a quarter are older than 60.

We're disappointed that the three Democrats are playing along with this nonsense. Walz has issued a statement about his vote:

“Throughout my life, both in and out of uniform, my priority has been to ensure the safety and security of the American people. We have to protect our country and live up to our founding ideals. Over the past several days, I have met with experts, studied the issue and solicited the opinions of southern Minnesotans. The message from southern Minnesota has been very clear: our care and compassion for those fleeing terror is absolute, but we have to find a way to ensure that we keep Americans safe from harm. I supported this legislation today because I believe it adds important safeguards to ensure additional security. I believe doing so is critical to the success of any refugee program, and I will continue to fight to ensure we take every possible measure to protect our country.”

Photo: Rather than letting refugees literally drown in the ocean, the Safe Act will figuratively let them drown in red tape.

We're conducting our November fundraising drive. If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie's original reporting and analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:

Bluestem has been following the saga of industrial spud giant R.D.Offutt's plans to expand its potato lands in rotation on to pine lands.

A group of rural Minnesotans has filed a petition asking for an environmental assessment worksheet (EAW), after the agency and the multinational corporation struck a deal that dropped an earlier plan for review by the agency.

Here's the press release:

This week, residents of north central Minnesota filed a petition calling on the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to require an environmental review of industrial potato producer RD Offutt’s (RDO) planned expansion in the region, which would use over 166.4 million gallons of water per year.

The DNR, concerned about the impacts of deforestation, groundwater depletion, and heavy pesticide and fertilizer use, initially ordered an environmental review of the company’s plans to drill 54 new wells. But after RDO protested, the DNR struck a deal with the company to drop the requirement in exchange for scaling back the project. Instead, they will work with Offutt on a taxpayer-funded study that will have no impact on the potato producer’s ambitious plans to expand.

Toxic Taters, a grassroots organization based in Callaway that works throughout the potato-growing areas of Minnesota, called the deal between the DNR and RDO a mistake and filed a petition calling for an environmental assessment worksheet (EAW) today. Along with filing the petition calling for the EAW, Toxic Taters and allied organizations including the Land Stewardship Project are calling on the DNR to hold a public hearing in the impacted region regarding the project. Until this point, no state agency has solicited public comments on the issue, and no plans have been announced to request input from the public.

Dave Butcher, a farmer from Pequot Lakes and member of Land Stewardship Project, helped collect signatures. “It’s not right for a corporation to be able to control its own regulatory process,” he said. “We need to make sure when projects like this come in that they’re really looking at the potential damage, and that there’s a chance for public input. This study wouldn’t do that.”

Toxic Taters Coordinator Amy Mondloch expressed concern that the agreement reached between RDO and the DNR is a failure for the state. “The EAW is the proven public process our state has to determine if projects like this are environmentally safe. We believe that the DNR has a responsibility to the public to use that process to hold corporations accountable. The agreement that RDO and the DNR have made is a failure to live up to that responsibility.”

After researching the growing methods used by industrial-scale potato growers like RD Offutt, Bluestem's editor decided to grow her own crop of pesticide-free spuds. Delicious. Even the cat enjoys them.

Photo: New potatoes from our garden. The straw mulch worked to deter potato bugs, while encouraging insect helpers. We'll probably hear the in-the-bag politicians run their usual placebaiting kvetching about evil metro folks being behind the petition, but the truth is that rural people want a healthy environment, too. Also tasty wholesome taters.

We're conducting our November fundraising drive. If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie's original reporting and analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:

Over the past year Minnesota accepted at least 1,837 refugees, almost all from radical Muslim nations. This, in spite of the fact that Minnesota has an Islamic terrorist-recruiting problem. Our national and state government leaders are failing to protect us.

Here's a closer view of that chart:

"1,837 refugees, almost all from radical Muslim nations"? In the chart Hagedorn shared, the country of origin from slightly over one-third of the new residents is Burma. It's a largely Buddhist nation, and the refugees Minnesota has taken in are mostly ethnic Karen.

Minnesota is home to the largest concentration of Karen people in the country, but who are the Karen? (The name is pronounced “kah-REN”.) The Karen are an ethnic minority from Burma, though the military government changed the name to Myanmar. Because most refugees in MN still refer to the country as Burma, we do too. . . .

Relationships are central to life in the Karen community. When you visit a Karen family in their home, it is likely you will find neighbors or family already visiting. Another place Karen people gather is at church. The majority of the Karen people in Minnesota are Christian, although of the total worldwide Karen population, about half practice Buddhism and 15 percent practice Animism. Large congregations include First Baptist Church and First Karen Baptist, both in St. Paul. . . .

. . . The mostly Christian Karen people have been fighting against Myanmar’s central government for 62 years, which makes this one of world's longest-running – and most brutal – civil wars.

It's also one of the world's great forgotten conflicts. Not even Rambo could change that; his last movie was set here (though filmed in Thailand), with Sylvester Stallone taking on what appeared to be the entire Myanmar Army in an effort to rescue a bunch of Christian missionaries kidnapped by soldiers as they were taking aid to Karen villagers. . . .

U.S. Rep. Tim Walz will address the “Global Refugee Crisis” from 3-4:15 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20 at Minnesota State University, Mankato in Centennial Student Union’s Ostrander Auditorium in a presentation that is free and open to the public.

Walz’s presentation is the latest featured event in the Minnesota State Mankato Geography Colloquium Series, and it is also the keynote lecture in the University’s Diversity and International Education Week (Nov. 14-21).

Walz’s presentation is sponsored by the Department of Geography, Department of Government, Kearney International Center and Institutional Diversity at Minnesota State Mankato. The geography and government departments are part of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Minnesota State Mankato.

Those who want more information on Walz’s presentation may contact Don Friend, professor and chair of the University’s Department of Geography, by phone at 507-389-2617 or by email at donald.friend@mnsu.edu. . . .

In 1993, when Travis Hofmann was a freshman of 15, he had traveled little beyond the sand hills that surrounded his hometown, Alliance, Neb. He was the son of a railroad engineer, a trumpeter in the high school band, with a part-time job changing the marquee and running the projector at the local movie theater.

In Travis’s class in global geography at Alliance High School, however, the teacher introduced the outside world with the word and concept of genocide. The teacher, Tim Walz, was determined that even in this isolated place, perhaps especially in this isolated place, this county seat of 9,000 that was hours away from any city in any direction, the students should learn how and why a society can descend into mass murder.

Mr. Walz had already taught for a year in China, and he brought the world into his classroom in the form of African thumb pianos and Tibetan singing bowls. For the global geography class, he devised something far more ambitious than what the curriculum easily could have been — the identification and memorization of capitals, mountain ranges and major rivers. It was more ambitious, too, than a unit solely on the Holocaust of the sort many states have required.

“The Holocaust is taught too often purely as a historical event, an anomaly, a moment in time,” Mr. Walz said in a recent interview, recalling his approach. “Students understood what had happened and that it was terrible and that the people who did this were monsters. . . .

So Mr. Walz took his students — Brandon Bell, the wrestler; Beth Taylor, the cheerleader; Lanae Merwin, the quiet girl always reading some book about Queen Elizabeth; and all the other children of mechanics, secretaries and a town dentist — and assigned them to study the conditions associated with mass murder. What factors, he asked them to determine, had been present when Germans slaughtered Jews, Turks murdered Armenians, the Khmer Rouge ravaged their Cambodian countrymen? . . .

When the students finished with the past, Mr. Walz gave a final exam of sorts. He listed about a dozen current nations — Yugoslavia, Congo, some former Soviet republics among them — and asked the class as a whole to decide which was at the greatest risk of sliding into genocide.

Their answer was: Rwanda. The evidence was the ethnic divide between Hutus and Tutsis, the favoritism toward Tutsis shown by the Belgian colonial regime, and the previous outbreaks of tribal violence. Mr. Walz awarded high marks. . . .

As columnist Samuel Freedman points out, the Rwandan genocide began the next year. We point out that refugees settled in Minnesota in the last year have come from Somalia--but also Burma, some former Soviet Republics like Ukraine and Moldova, Congo and other distressed sub-Sahara African nations, Iraq (whose refugees are mostly people who aided American forces there, according to the State Department), Bhutan (the refugees are Nepali), Vietnam and more.

One can predict that Walz will play a knowledge card, while Hagedorn is playing to simple fear--and ignorance.

Photo: Screenshot of Hagedorn's Facebook post.

We're conducting our November fundraising drive. If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie's original reporting and analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below: